The Seventh One
by Aeron Solo
Summary: Elsa has conquered her fears of thirteen years, but those years have taken other things from her. Notably, the chance to love. Well, when a peculiar High Knight of the Isles (literally) sweeps her off her feet and into another adventure, she may find love after all. Note: No this is not a Hans x Anna fic, KristAnna is a thing. Hans is just more important to the plot than Kristoff.
1. It all begins with a Cuddle

Brisk footsteps from outside the door. A pair of green eyes fluttered open and the young man to whom they belonged listened until he could no longer hear the _clomp clomp_ of the wayward sailor's boots. Then he threw aside the covers and quickly dressed, throwing a cloak over his clothes.

Quietly slipping out of his room, he walked up to another door and pressed his ear to it. Hearing nothing, he attempted to push it open, but the doorknob rattled in his grip; the door was locked. Frowning, he reached into his pocket.

Ordinarily, he could have just used his key. But today he wanted to have some fun; he took out a lockpick instead and began to pick the lock. All the while, he had his ear to the door to make sure that its occupant, if present, remained asleep.

Working the pick through the last stages of the lock, he strained his ears further until he heard one final click. Smiling, he twisted the doorknob and stepped inside. He glanced at the bed, but saw no one. _He must be on deck, then,_ he thought to himself as he strode to the desk. He spied his target and tutted absentmindedly; why leave it out where anyone could see it? He had to be expecting something like this. He swiped an envelope from where it rested and replaced it with a sheet of paper.

Locking the door, he popped open the porthole and slipped out, grasping a rope that he had let hang low earlier. He climbed up to the deck and peeked over the guardrail. Seeing no one, he climbed up and went for the crow's nest.

"Mis-Aeron."

Aeron froze. Then he relaxed and casually turned around. "You asked for me, brother?"

He met the serious blue-eyed gaze of his brother Aksel, whose features were remarkably similar to his own, barring the difference in their eye colors. "What are you doing up so late?"

"I could ask the same of you. As for me, I was about to go for a nighttime flight."

Aksel looked him up and down. "So I see. But why in your full flight garb? It's summertime. You'd only need it at cloud-level or above."

Aeron mentally cursed his brother's perfect memory. "Yeah, I want a bird's eye view of Arendelle as we approach it."

A raised eyebrow. "Aeron, you'd need to get over the _mountains_ in order to see Arendelle from here. Especially since we missed Arendelle entirely because you pushed the ship so quickly." Then those eyes narrowed. "You'd better not be trying to do that. Even your flight garb can't protect you from that."

"Are you so certain?" Aeron drawled, glancing up to the crow's nest. As usual, his glider sat on its special perch.

Aksel's eyes widened. "Aeron!" he hissed. "You can't seriously be thinking of doing _that_! You can't just keep pushing yourself and taking such stupid risks for enjoyment!"

"The heights never bother me, Aksel. You know that. Not the height, not the temperature, not the lack of air, nothing. Just like the depths never bother you for the same reasons."

"It's still idiotic!" his brother insisted. "There's no reason to do it."

Aeron just shrugged. "I'll see you at Arendelle," he said, clapping Aksel on the back. He sprang onto the mast and scaled upwards like he was flying rather than climbing.

"Aeron! Come back here right this minute!" Aksel shouted, not bothering to keep his voice down.

"Keep quiet, your _princeliness_, or you'll disturb more than the sleeping," Aeron replied, glancing at the water below, which had begun to stir angrily. "Besides, we're twins. You can't order me around like an older sibling. I'm off, Aksel." Not wanting to hear a reply, Aeron launched into the air. At that moment, the wind whipped up and carried him to the sky.

Aksel watched him soar higher and higher and scowled. "I should've guessed he wouldn't listen," he sighed, too tired to care anymore. He went below decks and went to his room. Yawning, he opened his door and went to his desk with the intent to pick up a book and read until he fell asleep.

Instead, his fatigue was rather rudely blown away by a single sheet of paper.

Aksel grasped the sheet so tightly that it crumpled. "Aeron."

"AEEEEEEEERRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!"

"Ah, music to my ears," Aeron sighed, grinning as he flew higher and higher, his goggles now over his eyes. The wind got fiercer and fiercer as he climbed; the temperature colder and colder; the air thinner and thinner. But he didn't turn back; the height never bothered him anyway.

He pulled a lever beside him so the glider could balance on its own. Then he looked down at his palm, where a compass was sewn into his glove. _Hmm, I'm going a little too far west. _Using his other hand, he adjusted his course.

He flew for a few minutes, adjusting this way and that when he felt it. A sudden yet subtle change in the atmosphere, only noticeable by those who knew the sky like he did. Though the temperature was much the same, the chill felt different. More…alive. He grinned; he didn't need a compass or a map anymore. He could feel where he needed to go in his bones, the bones that people swore should've belonged to a bird rather than a human.

He switched the balancing to manual, allowing him to use both hands to maneuver. He laughed aloud as he swept through the air much faster and nimbler than before.

Then he turned his glider and his eyes towards what he felt was the center of the living freeze. _Arendelle, here I come._

* * *

_Anna._

"Mmmmph."

_Anna!_

Princess Anna of Arendelle groaned and dug even further into her covers.

"_Wake up!_" Anna felt the touch of a pair of hands through her blanket, as well as a gentle but noticeable chill wherever they touched.

"Elsa, go back to sleeeee *zzssnore*," Anna muttered; she had fallen back to sleep in the middle of her sentence.

Elsa giggled into her hand and shook her head. She flopped down next to Anna, once again shaking her loose from her slumber. "I can't," she sighed dramatically. "The sky's awake, so I'm awake, so we have to…" she glanced at Anna expectantly as she trailed off.

Anna cracked an eye open. "Play?" she asked hopefully.

"Well, that would have to come after our duties for the day," Elsa said, assuming her queenly façade for a moment.

"Awwww, come on Elsa!" Anna whined.

"No objections."

Anna harrumphed. "Then go do your duties by yourself," she muttered, turning over and burrowing back under the covers.

"I'm sure I can..._persuade_ you to rise," she heard her sister purr. A chill ran down her spine; she could practically hear her sister grinning devilishly in that statement. A moment later, she burst into uncontrollable laughter as Elsa tickled her sides. She tried to get away, but Elsa's grip was firm. After a few minutes, when Elsa finally lifted her fingers from the princess' skin, Anna was gasping for breath and still giggling in the aftermath. "Do you surrender?" Anna nodded, too lacking in breath to speak. "Good." She made the mistake of turning away. The princess smirked and threw her arms around the startled queen and yanked her into bed alongside her. "Anna!"

"Just a few more minutes," her sister murmured. Elsa sighed and, after a moment of debate, gave in and twisted in Anna's embrace; admittedly, the Snow Queen couldn't get enough of cuddling with her younger sister. She did however pause to send a cold gust of wind to ring a bell at Anna's bedside, calling a servant to inform the kitchen to bring up breakfast.

"What do you have to do today?" Anna asked.

Elsa rattled off the entire list of meetings, ranging from inventory checks to gauging the size of the treasury to analyzing the state of public facilities. "Also, I don't want to alarm you, but there's an emissary from the Southern Isles due in the next few days." Elsa could feel Anna tense up against her. "Yeah. I don't really like it either," she admitted, "But the last time they contacted us they were apologetic enough."

There was a knock at the door, and Elsa reluctantly rose to get their breakfast. Muttering under her breath, Anna got up too. Elsa thanked the servant at the door and took the tray from her, setting it on the table at Anna's bedside. Brightening at the sight of food, Anna happily snatched up a plate and began loading it with her favorites. Seeing no choice, Elsa quickly followed suit before Anna could get _everything_.

"What did they say in their last message?" Anna asked after swallowing. She bit into a small breakfast pastry.

Elsa swallowed a mouthful of sausage. "Hans will be brought to justice. That was the gist of it. After all the apologies."

"Great. Hey!" Anna protested when Elsa snatched up something she wanted. "Oh, whatever." She chose something else. "What's their idea of 'justice' exactly?"

"I'm not totally sure. Presumably, they'll strip him of his title and banish him. Or put him to work doing something undesirable."

They finished their breakfast and set aside the tray. "Alright. I need to look presentable. Care to help?" Anna asked, walking to her wardrobe.

"Of course." Going to help her, Elsa suddenly paused and looked out the windows. "Something wrong, Elsa?"

"Just...I don't know," Elsa muttered. "Something seems different about the air today."

Anna threw open a window, leaned out a bit, and closed her eyes. "Seems the same to me. Ooh, that's a nice breeze," she sighed. "What do you mean different?"

"I can't really explain it," Elsa admitted, joining her sister at the window and leaning out. _This _is_ a nice breeze, _she thought to herself. "It just feels more...alive today. Sort of like how I can tell the difference between my snow and natural snow, do you know what I mean?"

"A little." And Anna did. There _was_ something inexplicably different about the snow and ice born from nature and that born by the queen's powers. "Hey are you gonna help me get dressed or not?" Elsa laughed and began to sort through Anna's wardrobe.

Perhaps if they'd continued looking outwards, they might have noticed a dark shape flit in and out of the clouds, or a whisper of laughter carried by the wind.

* * *

**Notes from the Author:**

**Here's a Frozen Fic. This was first published at the very end of the very first Elsanna Week on Tumbler, so I thought I'd mix a little bit of each prompt of the week into the first few chapters. This one was "Cuddles". Enjoy! Also please forgive me for uploading the wrong document earlier; it didn't save my changes last time, so I had no idea that there were no cuddles remaining in this chapter when I first uploaded it Q.Q**

**Aeron Solo**


	2. A First Kiss

_Several hours and meetings later_

Elsa waited until all her advisors left the room. Then she groaned and slumped in her seat. _That was painful, _she thought to herself.

In addition to the mundaneness of it all, Arendelle had been bothered once again by Weselton. Forcefully. A small merchant flotilla and an escort had showed up unexpectedly in the harbor. Elsa had simply frozen the fjord and, riding across the ice with assistance from Sven and Kristoff, informed the captains that their vessels were not welcome in this harbor. She allowed them to purchase supplies for a return trip, and then unfroze the part of the fjord that would allow them to leave, and then raised a gigantic ice wall between the vessels and Arrendelle to prevent them from reneging on their end of the bargain.

"I'm taking a walk," she told Kai, who bowed in acknowledgment. "I will return for the next meeting."

Soon she was walking through the castle gardens. She heard Anna and Kristoff nearby, enjoying themselves as Anna dragged Kristoff from one activity to the next. Elsa smiled, and thought for a moment about joining them but decided against it; the two seemed to be spending quality time together, an observation further accentuated by the sight of Anna resting a flower crown on Kristoff's head when she finally caught sight of them.

Then a lonely pang raced through Elsa's heart; the two had fallen silent and were gazing lovingly into each other's eyes. Then came the expected; a kiss. Most people would have glanced at this PDA for only a moment and kept walking, but Elsa's eyes were glued to the scene, her hands clasped tightly together. When Anna and Kristoff had first met, Anna's inexperience in matters of the heart had been painfully obvious, even to Kristoff who barely had any experience himself, outside of what the "love experts" that comprised his "family" had raised him on. It was a result of being cooped in the castle for thirteen years on end, unable to crush on boys and perhaps break her heart more safely than with Hans.

No one quite seemed to remember that someone else had been just as sheltered in that castle. And though her desire for love was perhaps every bit as intense as Anna's, Elsa deftly kept her desires at bay. It wouldn't do for the queen to crush on every boy who happened to come her way. Besides that, between her powers and her royal status, few men dared to approach her. And she suspected that her only suitors would marry not for love but for politics. So she threw herself into her work, and sidestepped any question of romance.

But once in a while, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to daydream. Like now.

Oh, Elsa. Wrong place, wrong time.

Something blocked out the sun, and an unfamiliar voice shouted "Watch out!"

Elsa's eyes snapped open, and she screamed as something big and dark hurtled towards her, too fast and too close for her to do anything else. Elsa shut her eyes, and threw up her arms to protect herself. The _thing_ crashed into her and threw her off her feet. There was much flailing of limbs and rolling, and when all was calm again, she realized she was lying on the ground. She felt a pair of arms around her, and a strange sensation against her lips. It felt like flesh, but she felt a tingling sensation spreading from the contact. Her eyes flew open, and she found herself looking into a pair of emerald-colored eyes wide with shock. _Is that a gold glint I see? _she thought absentmindedly.

Then:

_Is this a kiss?_

_Is this guy KISSING ME?_

_OHMYGOD__THEREISASTRANGERRANDOMLYKISSINGME(feelskindofnice)**WHYAREYOUSTILLKISSINGHIM-**_

They flew apart at the same moment, still staring at each other, though their gazes were now laced through with horror as well as shock. She caught a glimpse of jet-black hair and those emerald eyes looking out from underneath a pair of...goggles? This was the first time she had seen such things up close. Then the stranger's lips twisted up in an expression halfway between a sheepish grin and a smirk. The same lips _she had accidentally kissed not even a second ago._ He pulled down his goggles so they hung around his neck, revealing his _rather attractive-no, don't think that Elsa-_ face. "Sorry. My fault. Are you alright?"

Elsa cleared her throat in an attempt to find her voice. "I'm fine. Are you?"

That grin-smirk again. "Couldn't be better." Elsa blushed and looked away, not sure how to react to this. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw his smile broaden. "Oh? Was that your first kiss? I'm honored, your majesty."

Elsa's face turned even redder. _Damn you hormones,_ she cursed. Thirteen years of isolation were biting back this instant, and in a very different sense than usual. "Who are you? And how did you get into the castle?" The young man opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by a shout.

"Elsa!" she heard Anna call, and turned to see Anna and Kristoff approaching. "Are you alright? And who's that guy?"

"I was just asking that question!" Elsa called back, at the very same time the stranger said "I was just answering that question!" They looked at each other in surprise.

"Ooh, not even a few minutes and you two are already in sync," Anna teased. "So. What's your name?"

"I'm Aeron," the young man said, bowing quickly. "Pleasure to meet you all." He pointed at Kristoff. "I'll have to get your name later. I can guess who the queen and princess are, but I haven't a clue about you. By the way," he added, looking around at the assembled faces, "I don't want to alarm you or anything, especially given what just happened a few seconds ago, but I'm also High Knight of the Southern Isles." Elsa's eyebrows shot up. Anna's eyes widened (and she gasped), Kristoff's face darkened. "Yeah. I figured I'd get this reaction. Especially what..._Hans_ did during the Coronation Winter."

"You weren't supposed to be here for a few more days, Sir Aeron," Elsa noted.

Aeron winced. "Yeah, that would sort of be my fault as well. See, the ship will be a little later than it's supposed to be because we took a wrong turn. Yes, that's my fault. Don't ask me how, it's a painful story. I decided to fly ahead to take care of things before they got here. Either way, it was only meant to be a short visit."

"May I know what it is you are visiting for?"

"Well, we'll have to settle the actual details later, but I can summarize." He knelt before Elsa, with his head bowed low. "Please accept once again our sincerest apologies for Hans' behavior. He is to be tried very soon, and though it might be painful we would like both you and Princess Anna to be there to recount what really happened. Procedures, you see."

Elsa glanced at Anna, who swallowed. Kristoff wrapped an arm around her, and she leaned against him for strength. "I understand that this may be painful for you all, and I don't want you to leave the Isles with only bad memories, so on a slightly unrelated note I'd also like to extend to all of you an invitation to the Summer Ball, which is a week after the trial."

"The Summer Ball?" Elsa echoed. Aeron seemed to notice her confusion and explained: "For a few years now the Southern Isles have been throwing a massive party during the summer and inviting various rulers and dignitaries. We haven't invited you for several years for reasons you can probably guess, but with all that hardship behind us I'd like to start your reign by inviting you, your majesty, and any you wish to bring with you."

"Do you even have permission to do so?" Elsa wondered aloud. Aeron nodded and showed her an envelope, sealed with the Southern Isles' royal seal. "I basically just summarized this whole letter for you," he admitted, handing it to her.

Elsa glanced at the envelope, then handed it back. "I have a meeting to go to right now. But I can discuss matters more thoroughly with you afterwards." Aeron inclined his head with a murmur of "whatever will suit you best, your majesty." She turned to Anna and Kristoff. "Show him around the castle and also to the guest quarters." They nodded in affirmative. "I'll have someone send for you when I'm done," she told them, walking away.

Aeron's gaze followed her until she was out of sight. Then he looked back at his two new companions "So. Who are you again?" he asked Kristoff.

"Kristoff. Arendelle's Royal Ice Harvester and Deliverer." Aeron raised an eyebrow at the title and gave him a look. "Yeah, I know, why have that kind of job at all when you have the Snow Queen for a queen. Well, she can't really be bothered to handle ice all the time, especially not to just deliver to any house that wants it, and-"

Aeron clapped a hand on his shoulder. "It's really just an excuse to let you into the castle on a daily basis, isn't it?" Kristoff sighed and nodded. Aeron smiled reassuringly. "It's ok. You're a commoner. So what? If it's true love, so be it. If, _and only if_, that is." He gave the two of them a serious and significant look.

"We know," Anna said quietly. Aeron and Kristoff both heard the pain in her voice. Kristoff glared; Aeron cringed.

"I'm sorry," Aeron sighed. "I wish that Hans hadn't caused you so much pain. If only..." he sighed and trailed off. "Never mind. Can we take that tour? I need a distraction. The thought of the fallen prince is painful."

Anna brightened. "Sure! Come on, I'll show you around!"

* * *

That night, Anna and Elsa were cuddled together in the same bed.

"Aeron told me a story today," Anna yawned, resting her head on Elsa's chest. Elsa stroked her hair (in a sisterly fashion, get your heads out of the gutter!) and nodded, allowing her to continue. "It was about Hans, or rather it was sort of related to him."

"You want to fill me in?"

"Nah. Spoilers. I'll let him tell you tomorrow."

"Anything I should know about?"

"..." Anna looked up at Elsa. "Nah. Spoilers. I'll end up blabbing the whole story. Oh! That reminds me." Anna sat up and looked down at her sister. "Do you like Aeron or something?"

"_What?_" Elsa sat up just as quickly, exhaustion be damned. "What gave you that idea?"

"You're all blushing and giddy and not quite yourself around him. Is something going on down here, cause it's only been a day," Anna pointed out, patting Elsa over the heart.

"..." After a long moment, Elsa sighed. "We...accidentally kissed earlier." Anna gasped, but a glowing red Elsa hurried on before she could say anything. "It was when he landed on me. It was an accident."

Anna was grinning from ear to ear. "Wow, sis. Day one and you're already kissing. Did you liiiiike iiiiiit?" Elsa whipped the covers up over her head; she was blushing so furiously. _I didn't I could blush this much,_ she thought. Anna slid under the covers and whispered in her ear: "_Diiiid yooooouuuuu_?"

"Kind of," she admitted tiredly. "His lips were a little...tingly." She absentmindedly touched her lips at the thought before she realized what she was doing. "Does it tingle when you...uh..."

"Kiss Kristoff?" Elsa nodded. "Kind of, yeah. Though I sort of think it's in my head. But hey, I like it, so who am I to complain?" Elsa smiled. "But don't go too fast, ok? I know you're not as stupid as I am, and we both know the last time someone fell in love in a day, heh-heh, so..."

Elsa kissed Anna on the forehead. "You're not stupid. Naive, maybe. A bit foolish, maybe. But not stupid. And we both know why you fell in love in a day. I understand completely." She yawned. "Good night, Anna," Elsa muttered, allowing her eyes to fall closed.

Anna chuckled and bade her sister good night.

* * *

**The prompt for Day 2 was First Kiss. You probably get how it went in here. Not quite in the Elsanna sense; I turned it into Anna just teasing Elsa about her first kiss.**

**Aeron Solo**


	3. Interim

Aeron bolted awake, gasping for breath. Gradually, his surroundings came into focus, and he remembered where he was: one of the guest rooms in Arendelle for visiting dignitaries, not on a doomed ship in the middle of a storm at sea.

The High Knight sighed and ran a hand through his hair and blinked away whatever intent to sleep he had left. He knew how that dream ended. He'd seen it too many times over the course of two years, ending only a year ago. He could still hear the screams, the roar of thunder tearing apart the air and any who dared breathe it, the sound of nature tearing the ship apart plank by plank.

"Only a nightmare," he reminded himself. "What's past is past." But his conscience laughed cruelly at him, and he could only give a bitter smile as he stared at his hands.

A moment later, the door creaked open as Aeron, fully dressed, quietly slipped out into the hallway. Originally intending only to go on a walk, he froze when he accidentally came upon the portrait.

He backed away like a cornered animal, then fled altogether. Heading to the garden, he began to freerun. It was a strange way of dealing with stress, he knew, but it worked for him, and that's all that mattered.

He climbed the trees. He scaled the walls. He found himself on the roof, and ran, carefully at first, then at full speed when he got accustomed to the terrain. But no matter how fast he ran, no matter how extreme (and in serious need of his concentration) his method of travel. he could still feel the portrait glaring accusingly into his soul, even from behind its black veil.

_"I'm sorry_," he had told Anna when she had first told him who they were. If only she really understood how sorry.

* * *

Anna shivered and dug under the covers. _It's so cold._

_Wait, cold? It's summertime!_

Her eyes snapped open and she bolted upright. She was right; the room was literally covered in snow and ice. Now that she was fully awake, she was also aware of her sister sweating and moaning in her sleep. Anna was no genius, but two and two weren't difficult for her to add up.

"Anna," Elsa whimpered, cutting through Anna's heart more coldly than a blast of ice ever could, "No, no, please, no." A blizzard had started up.

Anna shook her. "Elsa, wake up! I'm here, Els, I'm here. Nothing's wrong, I'm not dying, or freezing, or whatever it is your head is making up, I'm right here, it's fine, _but I need you to wake up!_"

Elsa's eyes flew open. Anna could see her gaze was wild and unfocused. Gradually though, she realized where she was. "Anna!" Her eyes were brimming with tears. "Anna!"

Anna swept Elsa up in a hug as the distraught queen sobbed, relieved that it had only been a nightmare. "It's ok, it's ok, just a dream, just a dream, shh." Anna wanted to ask what it was that had her so distraught, but decided to wait for another time. Right now, her older sister needed some comfort. Then she felt Elsa tense up, and realized that she had seen the ice and snow coating the room.

_Oh, not good. That's not what she needs to see right now. _Right away, Anna could feel Elsa beginning to hyperventilate, and knew that the look on her face was likely one of horror and terror; traumatic as her life has been so far, Elsa was occasionally stricken by panic attacks, which had grown even more severe since the Great Thaw. Though Anna tried her best, she couldn't do away with thirteen years of isolation in the weeks since the Thaw.

_WhatdoIdoWhatdoIdoWhatdoIdoWhatdoIdo-oh hey, that could work._

"Hey!" she said as cheerfully as she could manage (which was so outrageously cheery that it would've almost seemed maniacal or something under normal circumstances), which managed to grab Elsa's attention. She sat back and grabbed Elsa by the shoulders. "Do you want to build a snowman?"

Elsa blinked slowly with her mouth completely ajar. "_Whaaaa_?" Anna fought the urge laugh. _Ok, I guess that managed to blindside her enough to distract her._

"Oh come on, there's all this snow in the room, why let it go to waste?" Ok, bad choice of words, she's starting up again.

"Anna, I could've hurt you, I could've-this isn't-"

"I know, I know, it was your powers randomly leaking out, but hey, look at me. Do I look frostbitten to you?" Anna asked. "The snow's all on the ground, the ice is all on the walls, but what's on the bed? Nothing. Nothing except us two." She grabbed a handful of snow off the ground. "Ooh, nice and packy."

Against all odds, Elsa began to calm down. The fact that Anna was acting normally was a bigger help than she realized, though her current emotional state was still extremely fragile, ready to break at any second. At any rate, the blizzard had stopped. "See? It'll be ok. Close your eyes and calm down," Anna said, tossing the snowball back onto the ground and wrapping one arm reassuringly around Elsa. She kissed her on the cheek and grasped her hand with her left.

Elsa closed her eyes and focused on the warmth of Anna's embrace, her attempts to make things right. Lifting a finger, she banished all traces of ice from the from the wall and floor. "See?" Anna smiled, watching the ice evaporate. "You can-hey wait, why's the snow still here?"

Elsa opened her eyes and cracked a smile. "You _did _want to build a snowman, right?" Anna couldn't help but squeal with happiness.

* * *

_Clang, clang_

"What's that sound?" Anna wondered aloud. They had just finished building their snowman, and Elsa had assigned it a small snow cloud to keep it from melting until she thawed it. There were now en route to the breakfast hall.

Elsa strained her ears, and frowned. "It sounds like swords. Perhaps the guards are sparring?" Her voice was doubtful, though. The guards rarely sparred with each other in the castle.

Abruptly, there was an especially loud _clang_ of metal on metal, followed by a series of clatters that sounded like something metallic landing on the ground. They could hear someone saying something. They couldn't hear the voice at first, but as they approached, they could hear it was Aeron talking:

"...and you move _so_ slowly, the whole lot of you!" He huffed. "And how on earth did _you, _sir, let me disarm you so easily? What's your hand made of, rubber? I mean I know you've never fought a master at dual blades before, but it was one against six! Besides, I only got the second sword when I knocked out of your comrade's hand! And I had you all on the ground in five minutes flat!"

Elsa cautiously opened the door to the ballroom to see Aeron there with several of the castle guards, who looked quite humbled as the High Knight ranted at them. "I don't know what the queen would do, but in my opinion you need to sharpen your skills, men. This was childishly easy." Elsa cleared her throat, and Aeron looked her way. "Oh, as if on cue. Good morning your majesty."

Startled, the guards spun around and knelt to Elsa. "At ease," she said merely. As the guards rose, "Sir Aeron, what are you doing?"

It was Kai, who was conveniently nearby, who spoke up. "I found the High Knight engaging in..._activities_ rather unbecoming of his status early in the morning. When I told him to find something more appropriate to engage his interest, he asked me if any of the guards were off duty. One thing led to another, and..." He sighed and gestured at the scene before them. "He has proven to be a rather competent combatant, if nothing else." Aeron cleared his throat, giving a meaningful look at the practice sabers scattered on the ground as well as tossing the ones in his hands into the air, catching them before they hit the ground. Elsa quickly counted the total number of sabers. _Seven? And there were seven fighters...why's he holding two? A_eron caught her eye and just nodded subtly at one of the guards. Elsa nodded back, the look in her eyes conveying her understanding. Kai caught the exchange and sighed in defeat. "Very well. An _excellent _combatant, Sir Aeron." Aeron nodded once again, his eyes twinkling, and his mouth twisted up in a victorious smirk.

"I'd like to see that," Elsa commented. "Six versus one I mean."

Aeron looked pointedly back at the guards. "Hear that? The Queen is going to watch us. Hold nothing back, and get your acts together. It's one thing to shame yourselves in private. It's another to do it in front of her. I want this to last twice as long! Or even for you to beat me! Hasn't happened in awhile. It would be quite refreshing." The guards straightened, their eyes burning with determination to meet Aeron's challenge, and also to do well in front of their monarch.

As the fighters got in position, Kai seated Anna and Elsa against the wall. "You might want to be careful," he warned them. "Sir Aeron is a little...wild."

Elsa only had enough time to ask "What do you mean wild?" before Kai called out "Begin!"

The guards began to move, but Aeron was already lunging at the one to his right. With a vicious strike that the man barely blocked in time, Aeron sent him stumbling backwards and followed up with a kick to the midsection that knocked the wind out of him and had him off balance. Then Aeron lunged again, spun and, slashing backwards with his sword and grabbing the falling guard's own, he swept aside the only foot the man had on the ground and sent him to the floor, also twisting his sword out of the man's grasp. "Trickier this time," he noted as he tapped him on the chest.

"That was quick," Elsa noted. Kai harrumphed and muttered something about how most of that maneuver wasn't actual swordplay before Anna shushed him.

The fallen guard got out of the way as the others charged, striking all at once. Aeron lashed out with his swords, clashing with their blades in manners that would deflect multiple strikes at once. Then he twisted and spun out of the way of the one that he failed to block, missing it by millimeters. In the blink of an eye he tapped the man over the heart and jumped away from the blades that whistled towards him, delivering precise counters to divert the swords from him.

The four remaining guards retreated from him for a moment. "He blocks us all at once, like last time," one muttered. "And he takes advantage of our missed strikes...let's do the same, except his missed blocks." Aeron just grinned.

They circled around him, fending off flurries of lightning quick attacks from Aeron's dual blades, then launched their own offensive from different angles, and at different times. Aeron whirled his blades quickly, deflecting their attacks just enough to keep them from striking him. Then, when one of the guards was about to attack him, he suddenly spun towards him and slashed with both blades, which caught him off guard and repelled him for an instant. Wasting no time, Aeron turned away and launched a broad horizontal swipe with his right hand sword to force up their guards while his other hand brought down the saber vertically; its target just barely stopped the blade.

"He's good," Anna commented. "All those swords, and he's meeting them all."

"He does have two," Elsa pointed.

Anna snorted. "Yeah, but he's getting attacked from four different directions!"

Aeron slashed upwards with his other blade so that together his blades trapped the guard's one. He also moved around the guard so that to get to him, his comrades would first have to go around the guard. Wrenching the blades to the left, he untangled them from the guard's and slashed again, stopping just an inch from touching the man's neck. "Dead." He danced to his left and launched a furious assault against a single guard, battering his defense aside after a few seconds and tagging him as well. "Dead." He then danced backwards and twirled his blades, waiting for the remaining two to catch up. They walked towards him, but he continued to retreat.

They were close to the wall at that point. Aeron stopped, and his sword flicked out. The guard blocked the strike, and his comrade attacked, which Aeron deflected. He exchanged a number of blows with the two in this manner, whirling in between the blades when his couldn't protect him. Then a careful series of blows sent Aeron's right hand sword into the air.

Aeron turned, ran at the wall, _and then ran a single step_ _up the wall _(Anna and Elsa gaped at this in shock). He pushed off with his feet, caught the sword in midair, and struck at a guard as he was landing, which was blocked. As Aeron had landed beside the guard, he was able to unleash the wrath of both his swords on the man, which ended in the guard's defeat. "Well done with the disarming," he complimented. "Haven't had to work this hard in awhile."

The final guard proved to be quite challenging. Learning from Aeron's technique of deflecting multiple blows at once, he managed to fend off the High Knight's repeated strikes with careful blocks, and even took advantage of trapping Aeron's swords for a moment to either launch a counterattack or to block the other sword with Aeron's own blade. Aeron was grinning, and was steadily increased the speed at which he was striking. Soon all that could be heard was a staccato of metal on metal as Aeron whipped up a silvery storm of blades. Even from where they sat, Elsa and Anna could feel the wind from his strikes on their faces.

At last, Aeron delivered a double strike with his blades, which battered the man's defenses aside for a moment. And Aeron took that moment to jab him in the chest. "Dead! And I must say, good job this time," Aeron added, lowering his blades.

Anna leapt to her feet in applause, whooping loudly. Elsa also stood and applauded as Aeron walked towards them, and returned the swords to Kai. "Thank you for your time, sir. I enjoyed myself immensely." Kai bowed respectfully, if somewhat stiffly. Elsa dismissed him, asking him to return the blades to storage.

"Well fought," Elsa said. This was mainly directed at Aeron, but it extended to the guards as well. She dismissed the guards. "That was quite a display."

"I'm one of the Isles' finest," Aeron said nonchalantly, shrugging. "Dual-wielding is my specialty. Not many can do it like I can."

"Isn't using two swords better than one?" Anna asked, puzzled. "I mean, more is better, right?"

"Not always. First off, how many people do you know are ambidextrous?"

Anna blinked."What? Ambi-hoo-ha?"

"Ambidextrous. Are equally good at doing things with either hands." Anna nodded with an "Ohhhhh" expression on her face. "Seeing that you've never heard of the word, nobody. A long time ago, I wasn't either. I've managed to fake it with regards to swordfighting through practice. But the training is rigorous, which turns away most potential students. Second, there's the focus. Even if you're ambidextrous, most people can't maintain fine control of both their hands at once, or one after another. Having to split or alternate your focus on each limb as well as your target is tricky, and the result is that most people do it sloppily. This can be remedied by order both arms to do similar motions relative to each other, like paired slashes." Aeron chopped the air vertically with both his hands to emphasize his point. "The third and more minor problem is power. Holding a sword with both hands is more powerful than one, as I'm sure you're aware. That can be a crucial difference in a fight. If I met any of their strikes head on with a full block, I would've lost easily. That's why I simply redirected the blows to the side with partial blocks."When Anna gave him a blank stare, he sighed. "Look, Princess, all you really need to know is that two swords is harder because you can't multitask easily with both hands."

"Ohhhhhhhh..." Anna said. Aeron gave Elsa a look that basically asked '_how do you put up with this?'_ Elsa returned the look with a glare that in her mind translated to '_She is my sister, and I love her for both the good and the bad. Insult her and I will personally have you strung up and hung.' _Aeron held his hands up in a gesture of peace. "You two are practically like a couple already, having a conversation without any words at all!" Anna suddenly said.

Aeron made choking noises as Elsa spluttered. "We are not!" Anna just grinned. "By the way, Sir Aeron-"

"Just call me Aeron. I'm fine with calling you 'your majesty', and the princess 'princess', but hearing people address me as "Sir Aeron" all the time is going to kill me someday, if age, poison, and fighting don't do it first."

Elsa acknowledged his request with an incline of her head. "Aeron. What were you doing earlier that Kai said was less than dignified?"

Aeron grimaced. "He doesn't have much of an appreciation for parkour."

"Parkour?"

"A French term for the art of moving fluidly from one place to another. I guess I can see where he's coming from, since it makes you seem like a bit of a monkey. Most of the time it involves climbing or jumping onto or off of things really quickly. It doesn't look too good for nobles to do it, but..." He trailed off, gave a shrug, and sighed. "I needed something to do. Besides, I'm not technically nobility."

Elsa's eyebrows shot up. "Really? Then how are you a High Knight? They usually pick them from the nobility in the Southern Isles, don't they?"

"My talent. That and most of the nobles haven't any idea what practical fighting and strategy is." He snorted. "They cling exclusively to old, nearly outdated fighting forms, and are never able to improvise. That opening move with me kicking that guy over? They'd call "cheatsies" or something to that effect on that one. Not everyone is _honorable_ in war, so I abide by a different set of rules. I had to build up my reputation in a year too, before I could be promoted to a High Knight. Besides, what does a High Knight do anyway? We run around carrying messages mostly, sometimes escort our royalty, our diplomats, and our honored guests, and speak up on behalf of our King. Excluding military duties, that's all there really is to it."

"Do you want to have breakfast with us?" Anna blurted. Both Elsa and Aeron gave her strange looks. "Sorry, just...I sort of like you. Not _like _you, like you, cause I have a boyfriend already, heh-heh, like 'I wanna be your friend' kind of like you. You know what I mean?"

Aeron blinked. Then he smiled, a gentle, kind, and happy smile that he hadn't displayed previously, one that Elsa could tell was from the bottom of his heart. "I do. Yes, I would like to be friends with you, Princess Anna."

"Ok, good! Oh, and rule number one, just call me Anna. Now that we're friends, you can knock it off." Aeron laughed and agreed. "Oh wait, Elsa, isn't there a school coming in for a field trip later today?"

Elsa nodded. "An orphanage. At around three o'clock."

"So, breakfast? Then other things?" Aeron asked. "Say, where's the dining hall again?"

"This way, come on!" Anna said, taking him by the hand and running. Elsa sighed and walked briskly after them.

* * *

_Three O'clock:_

"So this is the painting room," Anna said, throwing open the doors. Elsa smiled when Anna began to ramble about the paintings, and her childhood memories of them.

"Ow! Hey, knock it off," Aeron laughed quietly. Elsa glanced over her shoulder at the High Knight, who had one of the orphans sitting on his shoulders for a better view. "Hey, hey, no hair pulling little guy." When the child continued, there was a small _pop_ and the child recoiled as if stung. "See? If you play with people's hair too much, you get shocked. Poor little guy," Aeron murmured, lifting the child off his shoulders and simply holding him in his arms.

They continued the tour, with Elsa and Anna taking turns talking about the castle. It was mostly Anna who did the talking, though. Aeron helped them keep an eye on the children, which was a big help when one of them almost knocked over a suit of armor, or almost brought down a heavy tapestry; both times the High Knight was the only one able to react in time to prevent a disaster. When they reached the kitchens, Aeron ordered the kids not to touch _anything_. "Kitchens are like a time bomb for small children," he whispered to Elsa.

"You're good with kids," Elsa commented when most of the group was focused on Anna.

He answered her with a shrug. "I grew up in an orphanage. I can sympathize. Besides, my brother and I had to raise our younger sister for a good portion of our lives."

Elsa looked at him in surprise. "You have siblings?"

"Sort of. I have my twin brother, Aksel. Aerín though, isn't our biological sister. You might say we adopted her."

"How old is she?"

"Eighteen. And both of them are on their way here, actually. They're on the ship." He smiled at her. "Actually, Anna reminds me of her. A lot. I'm sure that they'd make great friends." At this point a little girl told them to hush, and they obeyed.

Hours later, when the group finally departed, they were seen off by the trio, who waved as the carriages moved away. "Well that was enjoyable," Aeron commented, allowing his arm to fall.

"You didn't have to do this, you know," Elsa told him as they headed back inside. "It was our responsibility."

"No, no. I would've been bored all day anyway. Since we settled everything yesterday, all I can really do is wait for my ship to get here."

"Oh yeah!" Anna said, looking at Elsa. "What did you decide about the Summer Ball?"

Elsa nodded. "I think we'll stay for that. Do you want to invite Kristoff?"

"Better if you do," Aeron muttered when Anna opened her mouth. "In addition to other things, at least six of the princes will hit on both of you." He counted on his fingers. "Erik is married and king, Sigmund is also married, Soren is betrothed, Niklas is seeing someone from...can't pronounce that country, Hugo has no interest in marrying, Durbe..." His expression suddenly turned sad. Elsa barely heard his next words, and she wasn't sure she was meant to. "...recently married Hanna, I forgot."

"Who's-" Anna began, but Elsa clapped a hand over her mouth, and before she could protest jerked her head in the High Knight's direction. Aeron was looking down at his hands forlornly, looking for all the world like he had just had it ripped away from him. "Don't push him," she hissed in Anna's ear before releasing her mouth. Anna gave her a nod. "Any other princes not desperate for marriage?"

This startled him out of his reverie. He counted again and answered, "No. Vector will most certainly hit on one of you. I'm not sure if you'd want to be with him either. Archibald is certainly looking, but he's also bogged down with other prospective women, so he might notice." He ticked off another finger and frowned, flicking the next back and forth. "Edwin...he's quite the flirt, but I can't remember if he's actually going to be there in time for the ball because last I heard he was touring some of the outer Isles for some reason or another."

He continued to talk about the Southern Isles and its people, and they continued to listen, well into the evening, through dinner and the days afterwards. He was bombarded with many questions by Anna, and was hit with the occasional query from a curious Elsa when she had time. Even with the former prince, they hadn't yet heard so much about the Isles.

"Tell me about the High Knights," Elsa said two days later. The moon was high, and Anna had already gone to bed. "What are they to the Southern Isles, exactly?"

"High Knights, huh?" Aeron sat forward in his chair. "The High Knights are a group of people who directly answer to the ruling monarch. Whoever is rightfully on the throne, it is our duty to act out their will. And our authority in royal affairs is unbelievably high in certain aspects. Whatever we say, it usually has to be carried out. The exceptions are numerous and complicated, but basically we have equal or even greater authority than council members or the princes."

Elsa frowned. "What if a corrupt monarch ascends?" She felt a chill run down her back when Aeron smiled grimly before responding.

"In that case, a second order is to be followed that supersedes our allegiance to the crown. Should the crown become corrupted, we are to either return the one wearing it to benevolence...or overthrow him or her. By whatever means necessary. And truth is," he added, sitting forward, "Oftentimes we High Knights are the only ones able to take care of our corrupt monarchs."

Elsa lifted her teacup to her lips, trying not to show how unnerved she was by his words. "It's a ghastly duty, but someone has to do it when it needs to be done," he told her. "But don't think we enjoy it. In almost all instances of this happening, one or all of the High Knights commits suicide out of shame. Believe me, we never want to kill our lieges. But sometimes it has to be done." He glanced down. "Could I have another cup? This is good tea."

She poured him another cup. "If your duty is to kill a corrupt monarch, what's to stop you from declaring that your monarch is corrupt and executing him without proving it?"

Aeron frowned into his cup. "Well there's a great deal of trust involved, but there are other parts to the contract that I can't disclose at this time. They're confidential. I'm sure you understand, your majesty." Elsa nodded, unwilling and unable to argue with that statement. As ruler of Arendelle, she had some things that she couldn't talk about either. "Do you travel often, then?" she asked after a few moments, switching to a safer topic. "You said that the High Knights have responsibilities both within and outside the Southern Isles, and you don't seem fond of settling down."

Aeron grinned, holding up both hands. "Guilty as charged. Yes, I handle a lot of duties that have to send a High Knight beyond the borders." He fumbled with his words for a moment. "Aksel and I are newer to the High Knights, but we're competent enough that they send us both to perform what is normally the duty of the seventh High Knight."

"What do you mean? Do all the High Knights have different jobs?" Elsa asked, confused. Aeron nodded affirmative. "The First Knight normally leads the group, obviously, and deals with most of the paperwork and politics and stuff that we need for our activities. He also leads us into battle if necessary. The Second Knight is Captain of the Guard, and handles the security of the capital. He enforces law, and oversees defense of the city if need be. The Third Knight is in charge of border patrol, which means she keeps a careful eye on who enters the waters of the Southern Isles. Ships have to pass through certain checkpoints to authorize their entry. Otherwise, the navy has her permission to blow them apart except in exceptional circumstances."

"Is the current Third Knight a woman?"

"Yes actually, how'd- wait, I referred to the third as if she was female, ok that was dumb of me. Moving on. The Fourth Knight is in charge of inspection, keeping tabs on what gets in and out of the Isles, and also keeps major trade and supply routes clear. Which is pretty important. Currently Fifth and Sixth Knights together jointly manage direct military matters. The Fifth is more down to earth and interacts directly with soldiers and guards, working to train them and keep them ready. In times of war, he also leads the troops from the front, handling combat on a minute to minute basis. The Sixth commands from the rear and handles the bigger picture. He's essentially the general; only the King is above him, and the King usually listens to him since he's an expert at it."

"And the seventh manages foreign affairs?" Elsa guessed. Aeron held up a single finger. "Sort of. Not quite. The Seventh Knight acts as an elite agent of the High Knights. Whoever it is, his or her skills in various aspects, especially combat, have to be exemplary. Whenever he is sent out, whatever the mission is, it has to succeed. Whether that mission is diplomatic or military in purpose."

Elsa frowned, deciding to ignore the implications of his statement. "Does that mean there are currently eight High Knights?"

"No, there are still seven right now. Why?"

"You said that you and your brother jointly handle the responsibilities of the Seventh Knight. Do you both only count as one Knight at the moment?"

"No. Right now the other five High Knights are sharing the responsibilities of the First Knight. Aksel and I would have as well, but Durbe, the current Second Knight, and second oldest Prince, insisted that since we, newcomers, were both working as the Seventh, the most difficult job, it was only fair that they bore the responsibilities of the First. At least until we can reshuffle our numbers appropriately. You see," he explained, seeing the confusion on Elsa's face, "three years ago the previous First and Seventh Knights were both lost at sea."

"I'm sorry," Elsa found herself saying. "Don't be," Aeron had replied, a little too quickly. "Only, the High Knights were unbalanced since then until Aksel and I came along. While they could somewhat jointly take over the duties of the First, none of the others could be bothered to handle the responsibilities of the Seventh, even though it was arguably the most important. They searched for candidates for awhile before Aksel and I came to attention almost a year later. One thing led to another, and here I am." He waved his hand vaguely at the room. "Here I am," he repeated softly, almost to himself.

Elsa was about to say something else when an enormous yawn escaped from her. She looked at the clock, and was startled to see how late it was. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize it was so late." _Or how tired I was,_ she realized, when her eyelids suddenly felt like they weighed like sacks of bricks.

"My fault," Aeron sighed, checking his watch and raising an eyebrow at the time. "I'm a bit of a nightowl. Besides, our conversation was so enjoyable that I forgot to check the time."

"Please. You did most of the talking."

"Well, you're a delightful listener." Aeron stood and offered her his hand. "Though to be honest you really did look like you were ready to fall asleep for the past half hour or so." Elsa took his offered hand and he pulled her to her feet. "Do you need help back to your room?"

"No, I think I-*_yawn*-_can make it on my own, thank you," Elsa yawned, staggering forward. Aeron spun in front of her and stopped her. "Elsa, you're really quite tired. I can tell. Please, let me help you back." Elsa hesitated, then nodded, and yelped a little when Aeron swept her up in a bridal carry and began to walk.

Elsa swallowed and flushed, feeling the touch of his arms through her dress. _Wait, did he use my first name just now?_ She shook her head. _It's late. I'll forgive that for now._

Then Aeron paused. "Which way is your room again?" he asked. Elsa chuckled tiredly and gave him directions. Sure enough, they were soon at her doorstep. "Here we are, your majesty, I hope I wasn't too bothersome," he said, gently setting her down on her feet.

"Thank you, Aeron," Elsa said, turning to face him. "Don't worry. Regardless of how tired I am right now, I enjoyed our conversation too."

"Well, I'm glad." Aeron took her hand and lifted it to his lips, kissing it gently. Elsa sucked in a breath; there it was again, the tingling sensation of his lips against her skin. Aeron's eyes widened when he realized what he had done, and was beside himself with apologies. "I don't know what came over me, I'm sorry, that was presumptuous of me-"

"Aeron," she said, cutting him off, fighting off the turmoil going through her. "It's okay. It's not a crime to kiss my hand. Just...don't do it too often."

Aeron inclined his head. "As you wish, your majesty."

Elsa favored him with a smile. "Good night, Aeron. See you in the morning," she said, and closed the door.

Aeron smiled at the closed door. "Good night to you too, your majesty."

* * *

**Aeron Solo here, and I know it looks like Aeron and Elsa are getting together pretty fast. This is my first real fanfiction where the readers get to see the process of the main stars falling in love with each other. I feel like a fish out of water right now, so please bear with me. Also, I notice that this chapter is A LOT longer than the other two, sorry about that :P**

**Please review! I don't know if I'm doing anything good or bad unless you say something!**


	4. Monster

Blue eyes fixed themselves on the seaside kingdom far in the distance. _Not long now_. He grimaced; various horrible scenarios flashed through his head at the thought of his brother, who had flown there earlier in the week.

Truth be told, deep inside the idea of Aeron being even _in_ Arendelle terrified him. But he was distracted from his dismal thoughts when he heard a pair of light feet bounce up behind him. "Arendelle's in sight. Wow, it's so pretty from here! I bet it's even better up close! Hey, you think Queen Elsa will make it snow?"

He turned to see his smiling younger sister. "Aerín, you know better than that. While I don't doubt that she'd make a little snow for entertainment, I think what you have in mind is a little extreme. And it wouldn't be good for her to do that right now."

"Aw! But Arendelle seems like the kind of place that prefers the snow!" Aerín sighed, folding her arms on the railing and resting her chin on the railing. "I mean, you can feel it can't you? The earth feels like it's singing prayers for winter. I'm sure the water is the same way."

Aksel decided not to comment, instead choosing to state "Arendelle appreciates all four seasons I'm sure. The kingdom isn't equipped for an eternal winter. Regardless of what Hans did, his account of Arendelle's inability to handle the unexpected winter should have been accurate enough."

Aerín's smile faltered. "Yeah…Hans," she muttered. A tear fell from her eye. "How could he do such a thing? I don't understand."

Aksel's expression darkened, and he checked the deck to make sure no one was with them. "What's left to understand?" he sighed. "He conspired to overthrow the Queen. His ambition wasn't so different from that of other people, and I'm sure that other people thought of doing something similar."

"But this is _Hans,_ Nas-" She stuttered and swallowed. "_Aksel_. You and Aeron were more his older brothers than any of the princes were. You mean to say that you believe the Hans you practically raised, that I grew up with, would have done this?"

Aksel sighed. "Aerín," he said wearily, "You know we can't talk of this."

"Answer me!" she insisted. "You're scared of answering the question!"

Aksel looked at the deck. "I don't want to believe it either," he admitted. "But believe me, there are harder realities to accept." _Like three years ago._

As if reading his mind, Aerín's gaze softened and she hugged Aksel. "That wasn't your fault."

"Don't get me wrong, Aerín, I don't blame myself at all." His eyes went cold. "Not _myself_."

"Aksel," Aerín began, but stopped herself and bit her lip before deciding what to say. "He couldn't remember what happened at all, even though we all saw what happened. He wasn't himself that day."

"Are you sure of that?" Aksel shivered as screams of distant passed echoed in his years. "He was _The Seventh One_, Aerín. 'Harbinger of death' wouldn't even come close to describing what he could do. It would have been more appropriate to call him the Devil. He could deceive people so perfectly, a skill exceeded only by his ability to kill. Why should he treat us any differently?"

Aerín sighed and tightened her embrace. "I know what he did as _The Seventh One._ I've heard stories. But he's our brother. He would never mean to hurt us."

"I thought the same thing until that day," Aksel replied bitterly. "Yes, he's our brother. _My_ brother. I love him too, Aerín. You think I want to believe that he would willingly do these things? But he did them. So easily. Right in front of me." Old wounds, healed and faded with the passing of three years, tingled, the memory of a battle long ago that took so many lives. And for what?

"We have to trust him, Aksel," Aerín insisted. "That's what family's all about."

"I don't know who to trust anymore," Aksel admitted, closing his eyes. Tears streamed down his face. "I really don't know."

_Because he betrayed that trust. He betrayed us all. _

_And I'm scared he'll do it again._

* * *

Far away, on the tallest tower in Arendelle, green eyes were staring out to sea. Towards a vessel he knew drawing closer.

Aeron sighed. _Well, vacation's over. Time to get back to reality._

_What a world. _Deep down, these words bitterly repeated themselves. Over and over.

Holding his glider, he kicked off from the tower and glided back down into the castle courtyard. More than once, he had entertained running away from it all. From the responsibilities. From the truths. From the Southern Isles. From reality. Maybe the rest of his life wouldn't be so dismal then.

But he was a High Knight. He had vowed to serve the throne, serve his foster brother, to the best of his ability.

_You have. And look where you are now, _a voice whispered in his mind. _And what good are promises anyway? Look at how easy they are to break_.

Aeron was now wandering aimlessly through the halls. _Shut up. My day is horrible enough. I don't need this kind of crap from myself._

_Then why take it from anyone else?_ The voice laughed and faded into silence, leaving him alone in his thoughts.

Which wasn't all that much better, to be honest.

Aeron clenched his teeth, resisting the urge to close his eyes. He knew if he did that, he'd have the nightmares again. Echoes and memories of ghastly deeds performed long ago in the service of the crown. He fell against the wall and slid down, with his arms resting on his knees and his face directed towards the ceiling.

_Where am I, anyway?_

All around him was thick stone. No carpet or wallpaper, no wood, nothing fancy. Just stone.

_Great. Watch this be the dungeon._ He groaned inwardly. _Even my wanderings betray me. _He got to his feet and walked, aimlessly pushing a door open.

And was bewildered by the sight ahead of him.

The room before him was completely destroyed. The wall before him was completely gone, blocked from the outside by a series of boards. _Wow. What happened here?_ He navigated carefully around the rubble, bending down to examine a pair of…_cuffs?_ Whatever they were, on the ground. He picked them up and frowned. _No typical cell has these kinds of cuffs. These cuffs are meant for dangerous prisoners. The kind that are dangerous to let have any use of their hands._ He dropped them and walked to the wall, inspecting the damage.

His frown deepened. _Ice damage. _He was quite familiar with it. He'd had to deal with it many times. Now that he knew what he was looking at, he could see it everywhere in the cell. _But why here? Why up there even? _He glanced at the roof. _Did they lock Elsa up in here or something? Ok, that's just cruel. Wait. _He inspected the damage, tracing his fingers over the cracks. _This can't have been around for even a month. The breaks are too well defined._

_But it's summertime here-oh._

Aeron dropped the cuffs, feeling incredibly foolish, and equally somber. _So Elsa _was_ locked up here. During the Great Freeze. And all this damage is from when she broke out._

"Aeron, what are you doing here?"

Aeron spun around to see Elsa in the doorway, looking puzzled at his presence. "I'll answer that in a second. What are _you_ doing here? Your majesty," he added quickly. "This doesn't exactly look like a nostalgic place. _Positively_ nostalgic anyway."

Elsa grimaced and walked towards him. "At the very least, I need to have the wall fixed soon. I can't avoid this forever." She sat down on one of the clear spots on the cot and cleared away a little more rubble before motioning for him to join her. He sat down, tossing half a broken brick aside.

"You were locked up here." It wasn't a question.

Elsa nodded. "Yes. Hans kept me here after he brought me back from the North Mountain."

Aeron nudged the cuffs. "This is a high-security cell. Those cuffs are made for the most dangerous of prisoners. And by that I mean the people with more muscle than there is rubble on the ground." At this, Elsa glanced about at the mess. "Yeah. That's a lot of muscle. Is this the only cell of its kind in the castle?"

Elsa sighed. "No. There are three other identical ones, each in a different corner of the dungeons. And these kinds of cuffs," she said, nodding at the cuffs, "Are the only kind of cuffs in the dungeons. There are even replacements in a storage chamber." Aeron could see the hurt and betrayal in her eyes, and he heard it in her voice too. But most of all, he could see her fear. The quiet fear that maybe they had been right. Thirteen years of pain and suffering, come back to haunt her.

Aeron tried to lighten the mood. "Maybe he had a traumatizing experience with human rhinos or something." Elsa snorted, mildly amused at the image that came to mind, but she slumped back into her emotional low. "You really think that the dungeons were here specifically for you?"

Elsa's jaw tightened. "No. But they were _remodeled_ specifically for me. These cuffs were all brought into the castle starting from ten years ago. And," she continued, "the walls of the four cells were thickened and strengthened."

Aeron said nothing. What _could_ he say? He was no Anna. After a moment he sighed. _Screw it all._ "Were you imprisoned here before then?" Elsa shook her head. "Then there isn't much to worry about, is there? Your parents clearly prepared for the worst, but they didn't force you in here the moment it was finished. They believed in you, Elsa. They could have gone all the way with this, but in the end they chose to believe. Benefit of the doubt. Trust. That's worth something, isn't it?"

Elsa bit her lip. "But what if they were right?" she asked quietly, looking at her hands. "What if I am a monster?"

"Have you done anything that would warrant the title?" Aeron asked as quietly. "I don't think changing seasons and a couple of ice-related accidents counts. They were accidents. And no one died. No one suffered permanently."

"Anna died," Elsa whispered. Aeron raised an eyebrow, but didn't interrupt. "I hit her heart."

"And?" Aeron was unconvinced. "She's alive, isn't she?"

"Aeron, you don't understand. If I hit someone in the heart with my powers, they will slowly turn to ice." She swallowed. "She froze right in front of me," she whispered hoarsely. "She was dead."

"Then how is she flesh and blood?"

"Only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart," Elsa stated. "Anna had the choice to save herself, but instead stepped in front of...Hans' sword and took the blow that was meant for me."

Aeron raised an eyebrow. _I would think that she'd break apart rather than the sword. No matter. Some things are better left unasked. _"I still don't see how this makes you a monster. I know you didn't mean to freeze her heart. You love her too much for that. And somehow I don't think you believe that's why you're a monster either." He leaned in closer. "Tell me, your majesty. I won't judge."

Elsa breathed heavily, like she was in pain. "On the north mountain," she said finally, trembling with emotion, "the Duke of Weselton's guards tried to kill me." Aeron listened as she continued. "At first I tried to defend myself. But at some point, I snapped." Visions of the fight flashed before her. "I tried to kill them."

She remembered the anger, the frustration, and the _satisfaction._ "I wanted to kill them. Now it makes no sense, but back then I thought that the whole world was against me. I was so tired of it all, tired of hiding, tired of being fearful. If Hans hadn't come when he had..." she swallowed.

Slowly, Aeron took Elsa's hands in his. There was a small _pop _of static when their hands met and Elsa reflexively jerked hers back for a moment, but reached forward again and grasped Aeron's hands. "_Elsa_." She was a bit startled at his use of her first name. "Look at me. They were trying to kill you. You were only doing what was natural. You were trying to protect yourself."

"I shouldn't have," Elsa began, but Aeron cut her off immediately. "Morals tell us we shouldn't have had that urge, but in the end we are only human. We are fallible. We can only note our failings and try not to repeat them." He wove his fingers together with hers. "Elsa. You're a far better person than you give yourself credit for. Being hard on yourself is admirable, but don't overdo it. Much of your fear of yourself is unjustified. Look at _my _hands." He lifted them before her eyes. "_These_ are the hands of a monster." Elsa opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off. "Elsa, these are the hands of someone who has actually killed. Not just once. Not just twice."

"You remember that I am the Seventh High Knight. Well, a great portion of my career thus far has been devoted to killing people. Enemies of the Southern Isles. I've killed soldiers, I've killed politicians. I lost count long ago. It's so bad that where once I felt like I murdered myself in murdering another person, I can no longer feel anything beyond a dull throb when I kill someone." He loosened his grip. "If you want to call yourself a monster, only do so when you can stop feeling. The people that don't care...those are the monsters. Not you. People like you are too beautiful down here," he tapped the area over his heart, "to be monstrous."

Elsa had gone quiet as she pondered over his words. Aeron began to draw his hands back, but she tightened her grip to keep them firmly in place. "You still feel." He looked at her in surprise. "You still feel their deaths. Maybe not immediately after the fact, but they haunt your eyes. They haunt your face." She smiled softly at him. "Maybe you should forgive yourself as well."

"Elsa, I just told you that I assassinated and eradicated enemies of the Southern Isles," he said cautiously. "Are you not at all worried that I might be here to kill you?"

Elsa shook her head. "You're an honest person, Aeron. Maybe mysterious, but you're truthful in your own way."

"I lie frequently in my line of work," he admitted. "I am a master at deceiving people."

Elsa's smile faltered, but she only tightened her grip. "Maybe you're able to deceive people with your words and body language. But I just know it. I don't know how, I just _feel_ it." Aeron's breath hitched a little. He quickly disguised it with a quick cough. "There's something about you that lets me see into your heart. I can't explain it, and I don't know you that well, but I know it's there." She hesitated, but then resolve shone in her eyes. "I trust that. I trust _you._ Maybe the evidence is against you, and maybe it bothers me more than I let on, but I choose to believe. Doesn't that count for something?"

Aeron's throat tightened. He had shown her this side of him, and she accepted it as easily as he had accepted hers. And his sins were undoubtedly much weightier than hers. He smiled back. _You really are too beautiful to be a monster._

By the way Elsa's face flushed softly, he must have said that aloud. Yet it wasn't an embarrassed flush like she had had the day they had met. It was a happy blush, accompanied by a tender, glowing smile. "You have a good heart too, Aeron. It's heavily scarred, but it's there."

Aeron got to his feet, still holding Elsa's hands. "This place is too depressing. Let's get out of here." Elsa smiled softly, allowing the High Knight to pull her to her feet. The feeling of his skin against hers sent a tingly, electrifying feeling up her arm. "Let's head back up."

"By the way, we were alerted to the approach of a ship not too long ago," Elsa said. "It was waving the flag of the Southern Isles."

"I know. I saw it earlier. We'll have to meet them at the docks. Ah, right, did you set affairs in order so we can set sail soon?"

"Yes. We can leave as soon as two days from now."

"Perfect. Now all that's left today is the matter of my siblings."

"Siblings?"

"They're both on that ship," Aeron explained, "My little sister and my brother both."

"They're both coming here?" Elsa asked, raising an eyebrow. "Your brother I can understand, but why your sister too? Isn't she only eighteen?"

"Glad you remember, your majesty. But to be fair, she captains that ship."

"What!"

"To be even more accurate, she owns it." Aeron fought down the urge to laugh at Elsa's astonished expression. "And I think you will all be thrilled to meet her, especially you."

"Why is that?" Elsa asked, hurrying to keep up with his quick pace. He just grinned back at her. "You'll just have to wait and see."

Even as they returned to brighter places however, a small part of him couldn't help but remain as dark and cold as the dungeons they left behind. _She knows that my soul is stained. But would she accept me if she knew how dark that __stain is?_

He doubted she would. But for now he'd let himself believe otherwise.

* * *

**This is sort of filler, as was last chapter . I really hate my lack of planning. Oh well. I hope you liked this. Also this is part 1 of a Valentine's Day update. (Okay, I submitted this late Valentine's Day night .) I wish this chapter was longer, but I ran out of ideas that fit with the general idea of this chapter**

**Aeron Solo wuz here**


	5. A Day Out

The gangplank clattered down, and Aeron's eyes widened as a blur of lavender flew down it. "Aeron!"

He quickly opened his arms and braced himself, laughing as Aerín landed in his arms, her arms wrapped around him. "Hey, Aerín. Welcome to Arendelle! Miss me much?"

"A little, but not much. I knew we'd see you again." She patted his arm, and he set her down on the ground. She gestured at the people with him. "Aeron, who are these people? I thought the Queen would be here to meet us."

Elsa threw off the hood of her cloak. "You would mean me I suppose?" Aerín's mouth formed into a big _O _as Anna unhooded herself as well, saying "Sorry, we had to get out of the castle incognito, otherwise we'd never get anywhere. And we wouldn't be able to have fun today," she added with a giggle. "Oh, introductions! My gosh. Okay, I'm Anna, Princess of Arendelle. This is my sister Elsa, Queen of Arendelle, but I'm sure you figured that out already." Elsa smiled. "And this is my boyfriend, Kristoff, Arendelle's Royal Ice Master and Deliverer."

Aerín gave her a skeptical look. "What? That's not a thing."

"Of course it is. If it wasn't, Elsa made it a thing."

Aerín looked at Elsa. "It's just an excuse to get him into the castle isn't it?" Elsa shrugged with a smug smile. "Knew it!"

Aeron jabbed her with his elbow. "Aerín."

"Right." Aerín drew herself up. "Hi everyone, I'm Captain Aerín of the _Evergreene,_ which is the diplomatic vessel of the Souther Isles. Pleased to meet you all." She began to bow, but froze in the middle of it and and turned it into a curtsy just in time. "Sorry, I'm a bit of a tomboy, I even wear men's clothing most of the time, so if I don't act very womanly please forgive me," she said sheepishly.

"It isn't a problem. I already have someone in my life who doesn't act particularly like they ought to," Elsa replied, resting a hand on Anna's shoulder. Anna glared at her; she replied with a loving smirk, an expression that said both '_You know I love you' _and '_You know I'm right'. _The younger sister flashed another withering glare in her direction before dropping the angry act with a sigh as Aerín asked, "Has my brother behaved well these past few days?" to which Aeron gaped at her and gave out a _humph_ before folding his arms and looking away in irritation. Elsa suppressed her giggles with her hand.

"Well, he crash-landed on me the day he flew in," Elsa began, and Aerín's jaw dropped. She smacked him on the arm, hissing "Aeron! How could you?"

"It was an accident, okay?" he hissed back. Elsa fought down another laugh and continued, "But barring that it has been a pleasure to meet him."

Aerín walked up to Elsa and looked her up and down. Elsa squirmed a little under her scrutiny. "Has he asked you out yet?"

Elsa's heart almost stopped beating from the shock. AS she opened her mouth to respond, Aeron, who looked similar to how she felt, shouted, "Aerín!" in a rather indiginant manner.

"What? She's totally your type!" Queen and High Knight went red in the face, and were fervently looking at anywhere besides each other. "I mean come on, you must obviously see _something_ in each other, or you wouldn't be reacting-mmmph!"

Aeron had slammed his hand over her mouth. "Aerín. Enough. This is the Queen of Arendelle we're talking about. Please mind your manners. Okay?" Aerín gave him a pointed look of incredulity that said '_You're really one to talk', _but she nodded. "Good." When his mouth came away, though, she had a loving smirk on her face. The kind Elsa had given Anna earlier. Aeron ignored it. "Now, where's Aksel, he's normally punctual-"

Dignified footsteps rang out. "Looking for me?"

Aeron tensed and turned around. Aksel descended the gangplank in a regal and dignified manner. Aeron stepped back as he reached the dock. "Your majesty." He bowed. "I am High Knight Aksel of the Southern Isles. I was originally sent here to deliver the Isles' message and invitation to you..."

"But your brother took it and flew ahead," Elsa finished. Aksel's mouth twirked and he nodded. "Not to worry. We have prepared for that already, and we will be ready to leave in two days' time." Aksel looked at Aeron and raised an eyebrow. His brother gave him a shrug back, and Aksel shrugged in return before returning to speaking with the Queen. "I am glad to hear that. I'm glad some good came of him flying ahead for once. We're ahead of schedule already."

"With affairs taken care of, and my duties finished, Aeron asked that we take you on a tour around Arendelle," Elsa said. "Would you like to come with us?"

"About that." He looked her up and down. "Your majesty, why are you dressed..._so_?"

"Oh." Elsa blushed. "Well..."

* * *

_A few days ago_

"Huh? The chocolate shops? Why?" Anna asked, a little confused.

"Well, my sister's birthday is coming up, and she loves chocolate. About as much as you do, I'd say."

Elsa grinned. "Alright. I'll tell the captain we're heading out, and we can tour the sweets stores."

Aeron stared. "Why would you tell the guards? What, are you seriously going into town with an escort? It's just a day in town!"

"The captain insists," Elsa sighed. Truth be told, she didn't really like it either. "He says..."

"Oh come on, that's all the usual nonsense they tell the royal family. You have magical powers! You're more well protected than if you were locked in a fortress with five hundred guards! Okay, that's an exaggeration, but still: Are you seriously going to listen to him?"

"I'd go out if I could, but he always tells the guards at the front gate to not let me past until I accept at least one soldier to guard me."

Aeron stared at her. "Are you telling me you've never sneaked out of the castle before?"

Elsa blinked. "Sneaked out?" The way she said it told Aeron that the thought hadn't really occured to her. "No, why?"

Aeron grinned mischievously. "Okay, the captain wins today. Let's go out right now. We're going shopping."

"For what?" Anna asked, the confusion in her voice and on her face mirroring Elsa's own. Aeron grinned back with a reply that left them even more confused: "We're getting you a not-so glittery wardrobe."

Elsa blinked twice. "I'm sorry?"

"What? Nothing says sneaky less than a Queen trying sneak around in her royal attire," Aeron replied. He rummaged through some of the packs on his glider. "Let's see, do I have any relatively inconspicuous summer cloaks in here? I know I should."

"Aeron, why would we want, or rather, why would we _need_ to sneak out of the castle?" Elsa asked. He whipped out a silvery cloak with short sleeves, glanced at Elsa, and threw it to her. She held it up against herself, briefly wondering what she'd look like in it. "Why would that be necessary?"

Aeron smirked. "Necessary?" he asked. "If you ask why it would be necessary, I really wouldn't be able to tell you, unless somebody took over the castle and you needed to escape. No, besides the benefits of knowing it's like to be a commoner for a day, this is purely for enjoyment. Royals do it plenty, actually."

"They do?" Elsa hadn't actually heard that before.

Aeron found a dull green cloak with short sleeves, held it up to Anna, nodded, and gave it to her. "Your majesty, are you telling me that you've never thought what it would be like to be treated less than royally? What it would be like to see life the way the common person sees it? What it would be like to not be yourself for a day, and be anonymous for a change?"

Elsa blinked. Truth be told, she _had_ thought about it a number of times. But with Anna as a sister, that wish hadn't ever had to come to fruition. "I'm not sure it would be proper...or right..."

"And _that_, your majesty," Aeron said, taking the cloak from her and throwing it over her shoulders, "is why you really need to get out of castle. You look pretty in this, by the way. Much better than I do." He flipped the hood up, and nodded. "Covers your hair nicely too. What do you think, Anna?"

Anna looked at her sister. "Omigosh, Elsa, you look so pretty," she gushed. "I mean, you always look pretty, but this is a different kind of pretty. It's different. It's nice. It's a nice different. Agh, rambling again," she groaned, facepalming. "Ooh, now I wanna try mine on." She put hers on and spun; Elsa caught a glimpse of a flower-like design on the back. "How do I look?"

"Beautiful." Elsa threw back her hood. "Maybe you're right, Aeron, but I can't actually go into town and leave my duties behind."

Aeron raised an eyebrow. "Okay, you want to bring your responsibility as queen into this? How about you look at it this way." He sat down in a chair and put his palm out face up with his fingers pointed towards her. "If you go out and buy some clothes more fitting of a commoner, you'd pay the makers for their service, which is minor but it's something. Also, while I'm sure you do your best to listen to the problems of the kingdom, there are some things that people won't tell you. The best way to find out? You'd have to experience it for yourself. So these excusions would be useful for the sake of both duty and entertainment. How about it, your majesty? Would you like to try?"

Elsa bit her lip. "What do you think?" she asked Anna.

"It sounds fun!" Anna said cheerfully. "I think we should give it a try. Besides, you're always swamped with guards, and people are always gushing and fawning over you whenever you're around, you never get to see what people are actually like. And to a certain degree, neither do I. Aeron's right, we should do this!"

* * *

Aksel glared at Aeron. "So you're saying that this was all _your_ idea."

"What? It's a useful thing to do, for the sake of one's sanity if nothing else," Aeron replied.

"Wait, you already took her out on a date?" Aerín chirped. She tossed a chocolate in her mouth with a sound of delight.

"Enough with the dates already," Aeron grumbled, swiping the chocolate she was reaching for, drawing a glare from her. "No, it wasn't a date, there wasn't anything romantic about it."

"Aw, but you probably helped to pick her dresses, am I right?" Aerín asked innocently, selecting and popping another sweet into her mouth. "Like perhaps that one she's wearing right now. It's very pretty by the way, it fits her really well."

Aeron gritted his teeth. _Soft blue with pink flower designs around the bottom hem._ She _did_ look extremely pretty in it. "Yes, I did help. But that's not really important-"

Aerín gasped. "Not important? But of course it's important! She chose a bunch of things you picked out for her! In other words, she picked what you think makes her look attractive!"

Red-faced Aeron threw his arms up in the air as Elsa directed all her attention and interest towards her feet, her cheeks burning. Anna leaned over and whispered, "Wow, she's almost as fast as the trolls."

"Trolls?" Elsa asked, happy for a distraction as the siblings practically began to brawl.

"The moment I met them, they immediately tried to get me and Kristoff married," Anna laughed, to which Elsa's eyes bugged out of her head. "Don't worry, they never got to finish, heh-heh...oh yeah, I was...yeah..." she recalled, sobering up and awkwardly going silent.

"Owowowowow, okay okay I'll shut up for a bit!" Aerín whined. Aeron promptly released her from the headlock he had trapped her in. "Owwww, that's gonna bruise," she whimpered, pouting up at Aeron with puppy-dog eyes. "Whhyyyyy, brother?"

Aeron just sighed. "Oh be quiet, that's not even close to bruising and you know it. And you can quit it with the adorable act, it won't work on me." Aerín's pout only became even more prominent, and she let out a whimper and a sniffle. "No...stop..." Aeron said, taking a step back with dread. Tears began to form in Aerín's eyes all too conveniently. "Okay, that's just not fair," Aeron groaned, walking over to his younger sister and wrapping her in an apologetic embrace as she smirked at him in triumph.

Anna and Elsa could only view this spectacle in stunned disbelief. Aksel coughed into his hand. "If you haven't already figured it out, Aerín is more than capable of wrapping us around her finger. Tomboy or not, and young adult or not, she is capable of playing the part of the adorable little sister. We have absolutely no defense against it."

"Therefore, she is a spoiled brat," Aeron said. Aerín kicked him in the shin. "Ow! Hey that hurt!" Aerín just scoffed and told him that he deserved it. "And you deserved that comment! You're spoiled rotten!"

"And I also know how to take care of myself because of that, don't I?" Aerín challenged. "When you 'spoiled' me by teaching me to fight, to cook, to sketch, to do the laundry, and all the useful stuff that I wanted to learn to do when I was so extremely bored?"

"She has a point," Aksel noted. "She forced us to teach her many useful things."

"Well what about the time when she convinced us to help her set a prank for that dignitary?" Aeron argued. "Okay, it was hilarious, I'll admit, but no matter how you look at it, that was a horrible idea! Well," he said suddenly, remembering the incident more clearly, "Okay, actually wasn't that guy was pretty rude and also intent on forcing us into an unfavorable trade deal?"

Aksel bit his lip as he tried to remember. "Yes, I remember that a little. Why did you want to prank him again, Aerín?"

"He told me just what he thought about me when he saw me in leggings," Aerín replied. _Both_ Aeron and Aksel winced. "So I thought I'd get him back for it."

"Then I take back what I said earlier," Aeron said darkly. "That old coot got exactly what he deserved."

"What did you do to him?" Anna asked eagerly.

Aerín covered her mouth with her hands to suppress her giggles; Aeron grinned and chuckled; even Aksel couldn't help but smirk fondly at the memory. "We took his wardrobe and replaced everything in it with women's clothing."

"And we put the actual clothing in a chest and hung it from the chandelier of the main hall," Aeron finished, grinning at his brother. "You were the one who suggested that part."

"What? No I wasn't!" Aksel protested, shocked. "Yes, you were," Aeron teased. "I just glanced up at the chandelier! You were the one who actually thought that I meant we should put it up there! In fact, you did so before I could stop you!"

"Ooookay," Aerín said, stepping between the two, "let's calm down a little. We did it, we can laugh now, we're good right?"

"Almost," Aeron replied. "After all, if I remember correctly, we took the fallout for you." Aerín paled and Aeron grinned in triumph. "But we're feeling merciful today, aren't we brother?" Aksel nodded. "So now that everything is out of the way, let's have lunch."

As soon as he said that, several stomachs growled. Aeron laughed. "Picnic in the park. Olaf should be waiting with the basket."

As everyone else walked off, Aksel suddenly grabbed Aeron's arm. "Aeron." Aeron turned to face him, knowing from his tone that they needed to talk alone. "Are you falling for her?"

Aeron took a deep breath. "Yes."

A worried and saddened look flickered through Aksel's eyes. "I won't say anything, then. I want to see you happy, Aeron, and I do believe she really enjoys your company. But you should tread carefully." Aksel stepped away from him and walked to catch up with the others. "And you should know exactly why."

Aeron looked at his hands. For a moment, the image of a slightly different pair of hands appeared in his eyes before fading. "Don't remind me."

* * *

It had been a long day, and now the group was watching the sun sinking under the ocean together from a hill. "Everyone enjoy themselves today?"

Elsa nodded. "It was refreshing. I think I see what you meant. Thank you."

"Oh? Shall I arrange another excursion for tomorrow?" Aeron said almost teasingly, drawing a smile from her. "But no, the captain would probably be livid if we did that."

"He might be strict, but he's a good man," Elsa agreed. "He deserves better."

Aeron stood and stretched as Aksel helped Aerín gather up all the boxes of chocolates, clothes, and souvenirs she had asked for. "Well, it's starting to get late. Let's head back," he said, holding out his hand. Elsa took it and allowed him to help her stand.

"Such a gentleman," Aerín whispered.

"Leave them alone, Aerín," Aksel hissed. But Aerín had cupped her hands to her face and was singing softly into them. Points of golden light gathered like stardust in her hands, and with gentle encouragement from her they grew into softly glowing flower petals.

"What are you doing?" Anna asked, leaning over. She gasped when she saw a couple of the petals take shape. "How did you do that?"

Aerín winked. "Magic." In spite of the joking tone the girl took, Anna could see that she was actually being serious. Taking in a breath, she blew on the petals, which flew into the air and rained all around Aeron and Elsa. Aeron glanced up when the first petal touched him on the head, grabbing it and examining it before rolling his eyes and shaking his head. Elsa held out her hand as well to catch a number of the petals in wonder.

"Elsa!" Anna called, catching her older sister's attention. "You won't believe this! Aerín has magic too!"

"Magic?" Elsa asked blankly, looking at Aeron for confirmation. He nodded with a wry smile. "So that's what you meant," she realized, recalling his words from earlier that day. "That's how we're alike. What's her power?" Aeron held up the flower petal and waggled it a little. "Flowers?"

"More precisely, everything earthly," Aeron corrected. "Plants, rocks, metals, crystals, the whole package. But flowers are her forte and trademark, yes."

"Amazing," Elsa breathed, a little envious. "All I have is ice and snow, as I'm sure you'd know."

"No," Aeron said, reaching out to brush a flower petal off her shoulder. "You have all of winter at your command. That's equally powerful. Equally beautiful. And I think it would be much harder for Aerín to make a castle with her own powers."

"Unless we count that huge sand castle," Aerín piped up. Aeron snapped his fingers. "That's right. The sand castle. But wait," he said suddenly, "We helped you make that." Aerín just stuck her tongue out at him. "Okay, it was mostly your work. We just helped with the details."

It was dark when they began to make their way back to the castle. Aeron, Aksel, Olaf, and Kristoff were at the front of the group, talking and making way for the others to get through. This gave the girls some time to talk.

"Seriously?" Anna gasped. "You grew your _entire_ ship? Out of a tree?"

"Yep!" Aerín said cheerfully. "And it's still alive, by the way. Not just like a tree alive, but like Olaf alive. Sort of. I mean Evergreene can't really talk except in these sort of whale-like groans, cause that would freak out a lot of people, but I understand her just fine."

"How does she get nutrition?" Elsa asked. "If she's a tree, she'd have to take it from somewhere."

Aerín covered her mouth to stifle a giggle. "Well, one man's rubbish is another man's meal," she said. Anna and Elsa stared at her blankly before Elsa's eyes widened and she didn't know whether to laugh or be disgusted. "Yeah, knows what's going on," Aerín said as Anna looked between them in confusion. "Best part about that is because of that she has decent bathrooms. And she covers up the smell nicely with a sort of...natural perfume, if you know what I mean."

Anna looked at her confused before she finally got it. "Oh my god," she said, looking both horrified and amused at the same time, and by this point all the girls were laughing. The men of the group looked backwards at them quizzically, but they continued on.

Elsa was about to ask something when she bumped into someone. "Oh, excuse me," she said, looking up to see who she had bumped into.

And regretted it.

The man turned towards her, and she caught a blast of bad breath mixed heavily with alcohol. "Hey, beautiful," the man said, grabbing her by the arm. "Are you doing anything tonight?"

Elsa knew that this man was drunk. "Yes, I'm quite busy actually," she said, trying to pull away, but the man's grip was firm. "Please, let me go."

"What's the rush?" the man drawled, sending chills down her spine. At this point, Anna and Aerín had turned to see this, and were alerting the boys. "The night is young." He grabbed her by the shoulder and bent down towards a terrified Elsa, who was desperately trying to keep her powers from raging out and freezing him to death.

Suddenly there was a _crack_, and the man suddenly recoiled, releasing her. "You alright?" she heard Aeron say, tapping her on the shoulder before walking past her. "Wait here, I've got this."

"No, I can-" Elsa began, but Aeron cut her off with a grin. "I like to hold back the ace. Besides, I could use a workout if things go wrong."

The man was rubbing his hands when Aeron came up to him. "Who're you?"

"Good sir, I'm afraid you're quite drunk," Aeron said. Elsa's mouth dropped open at how blunt he was. "And I'm also afraid that my friend regrettably has other places to be at the moment." She glared at the High Knight, which was apparently enough to cause him to glance backwards with an sheepishly apologetic grin but he continued to speak. "So if you would please allow me to help you home and just forget all about this, we can all go our separate ways without regretting anything."

The reply had Aeron ducking underneath a clumsy punch. "Okay, I stand corrected. You're _really_ drunk," he commented, dancing out of the way of a second swing. "And quite possibly single. No problem. Well, the first is no problem," he corrected himself as he deflected and avoided a number of attacks, "Can't really do anything about the second I'm afraid. Not exactly a love expert here."

The man roared and charged at him. Aeron leapt upwards and spun over the man, landing behind him and delivered a couple of blows to his sides before dancing out of range of the answering swing.

"Elsa!" Anna called, grabbing her by the arm. "Are you hurt at all? Sorry we're late, Aeron moved so quickly!" Elsa shook her head and pointed at where Aeron was brawling with her would-be attacker. "Whoa, is _he_ alright? That guy looks really strong."

"I'd be more concerned for the drunkard," they heard, and they looked up to see Aksel and Aerín watching the fight, the former with nonchalance and the latter cheering on her brother. "When it comes to fighting, very few stand a chance against him."

Aeron ducked under a swing and lashed out with his leg, catching his opponent in the midsection and throwing him off balance. With the lapse of coordination that followed, he closed in quickly and unleashed a couple of blows at close range, and when the man began to get his act together, he jumped and kicked off of him, somersaulting backwards out of range. He landed gracefully on the ground, while his opponent was sent to the ground. "Enough?" The man got to his feet and bellowed, charging again. "Guess not."

As he drew closer, Aeron leapt straight up and landed on the man's back, sending him to the ground once again. He grabbed the drunkard's arm and twisted it painfully behind him while he trapped the other one with his leg. "We done?" The man struggled to get free, but Aeron's grip was too firm and he gave up. "Good."

He released him and stood, walking away. The man however rose up and lunged towards him for another attack. Aeron heard him and turned, his eyes wide with surprise.

_KRINK._

The man slammed into a thick wall of ice that sprang up out of nowhere. Elsa lowered her hand. "That's enough," she said, throwing back her hood. "Please stand down, sir. This doesn't need to get any more complicated."

A hush fell over the entire street. People who had been watching the fight and cheering for one fighter or another, or simply crying out to stop, were now focused entirely on Elsa, who had for all intents and purposes appeared out of nowhere. Even the man who had directed his rage at Aeron was looking at her stunned disbelief. Elsa squirmed a little at the attention.

"It's the Queen," the whisper ran through the crowd, and everyone except her party knelt to her. Aeron looked at everyone in amusement. "Hold back the ace indeed, your majesty."

She walked over. "Are you alright?" she asked, waving her hand and thawing the ice wall. Aeron nodded with a smirk. "Couldn't be better." Elsa's cheeks burned at his choice of words (especially from the memory attached to them), but she smiled with relief. "You were right on time."

"Your majesty." They turned to see the drunk man, who was standing and looking apologetic. "Please forgive me, I didn't know-"

"I know you didn't. That was the point. And honestly I think it worked a little too well," she said, exchanging looks with Aeron, who just smiled wryly and shrugged. "But I'm willing to overlook this. You are not in your right mind at the moment. But please make it a point to return home in the future before you become completely intoxicated."

He bowed in thanks, and his friends came to help him home. Elsa breathed out a sigh of relief. "Okay, let's go back. I've had enough for one day." Aeron nodded, and began to usher people out of the way, saying "The Queen wants to come this way, please move aside." People parted before him, allowing them to pass.

"All that aside," he said, falling back into step beside her, "Did you enjoy yourself today?"

Elsa looked at him and nodded. In spite of the incident with the drunkard, or maybe even because of it, she had. Aeron smiled back. "I'm glad for that."

As they finally stepped onto the bridge, he suddenly added, "But maybe we should avoid nighttime. Or the streets with bars." Elsa laughed and agreed.

Not once did it occur to her to ask how Aeron got the man to release her.

* * *

**Okay, I managed to get this out of my system quickly! I'm sorry that this is late, but it was meant as part 2 of the Valentine's day update. I had to take awhile to write this up, boy it stretched my imagination a little.**

**On a slightly unrelated note, I will be renaming this story soon. The title came out of nowhere, I had no idea what to call it originally. If you want to be able to find this story later, you will either have to create a fanfiction account and follow this story, or you'll have to find a Frozen fanfic by the name of "The Seventh One" or something similar. Or you could just check my page to see which story is the Frozen Fanfic :D**

**In the meantime, please read and review, I liked how this turned out mostly, but I wanna know what you guys think! Plz? :3**

**Aeron Solo wuz here**


	6. Echoes and Screams

_Two days later_

Aksel stood on the docks. The sky was gray with twilight, and the sun was barely starting to rise. He closed his eyes and sighed.

"Something wrong, Aksel?" He opened his eyes as Aeron swooped down on his glider and landed lightly. "You seem tense." He unstrapped himself from the contraption and folded its wings while Aksel remained in silence. "Oh come on, tell me. I don't bite."

_I beg to differ. _But he couldn't say that. "Something's not right, Aeron," Aksel replied instead, choosing to keep that traitorous thought to himself. "The seas are restless. A storm is brewing, and I'm pretty sure its not the kind that thunders and blows. Or crashes and splashes."

"Ominous," his brother commented, almost too casually. "But when has a storm, force of nature or no, ever bothered us?"

Aksel sighed. "...I can think of one instance."

The words were flat and emotionless, but were all the more terrible, reproaching, and _accusing_ for it. Aeron's cheery smile faded, and with it went his lighthearted mood. Aksel closed his eyes, unable to look at his brother, unable to resolve the sadness and love he felt for the person who had once been like half of his own person with the anger, fear, and hatred he felt towards the stranger, the _monster _he had seen, the _world_ had seen, had _suffered_, three years ago. "And I'd rather not remember it."

He heard Aeron plunk down onto the deck, sitting with his legs hanging over the edge. His next words were just as flat, but it wasn't an air of accusation to them that cut into Aksel's heart. It was the sheer exhaustion that he said them with. "Me neither." Aksel clenched his teeth and couldn't help but turn his head to shed a tear in sadness and frustration for the both of them. Frustration at his brother for what he had done three years ago. Frustration for his brother trying to deal with his own issues on his own. Frustration at the fate for putting them through this.

Frustration with himself for being unable to let go of the past. And that he had been unable to stop any of it.

Silence had fallen between them, both of them lost in unpleasant memories. For a moment, the image of crashing waves, black clouds, roaring thunder, and blustering winds replaced the calm morning seas before them.

And a tremendous battle between two almost god-like figures, equal in almost every respect. Aksel still remembered how it felt like the world was being torn apart with every blow.

Aksel chose to break the silence. "I'll try to speed up our departure. We shouldn't stay at sea for too long. The sooner we leave, the sooner we return."

"I'll let you handle that," Aeron replied, remaining while Aksel turned on his heel and walked away. "I'll be here. Waiting."

Aksel hesitated, but nodded tersely. "Don't fly off. Whatever happens, we need to return to the Isles as soon as possible," he called over his shoulder, and he disappeared from sight. Aeron glanced back towards him, then returned to looking at the sea.

There was once a time when looking at the ocean made him happy. Safe. Protected. Loved. His brother had always loved the sea, had always been at home in the water, much more so than on land. His connection to the sea was so strong that when they had first looked for a place to stay, his brother had chosen a boat. Granted, in those days they needed to move around frequently, so it was also a smart choice. But the way his eyes had sparkled like the ocean in sunlight...well, it was hard to say no. Especially not when Miz-_Aeron_ himself had been so fond of the idea. Just like the sea was where _Aksel _was meant to be, Aeron had found himself most in touch with the heavens. No one knew wind and weather like he did; he could feel it in his bones. And while sailboats are rooted firmly in the kingdom of the ocean, they are just as dependent on the wind. That sailboat, and the teamwork with which they commanded it, had been a symbol of their bond as brothers.

Now, it was resting on land, continuing to serve as their home. Only now, it was mostly Aerín's home. Aksel stopped by only occassionally, and Aeron hadn't even visited it in months. Out of touch with the wind and water, the boat was left to rest with the earth. Symbolic as it had been of their bond, its current state was no different in that respect.

Everything had changed on that fateful day. And now, neither brother could bear being around the other. Aerín was all they had in common anymore; if it was up to them, Aksel would be the only High Knight between them.

And Aeron? Aeron wondered where he'd be. He could really only picture a void where his future would have been.

Growing tired of the view of the water, he flopped backwards and stared at the clouds.

For a minute everything was peaceful. He tried to find shapes in the clouds, trying to figure out what the sky was trying to tell him today. Then he saw a cloud that looked like a ship, just before it was engulfed in a cloud that looked like a large wave.

Aeron sat up so quickly that he nearly bit his tongue.

It wasn't only the sea that rejected him anymore, Aeron noted bitterly as he forced down the memories. Memories of love, for and from his people, his sister, his brother, his king, his comrades, his...lover.

Memories of when he had everything. And of when he had thrown it all away.

The wind, so gentle before, seemed to bite at him. The clouds turned grey, and the ocean broiled angrily under the intensifying winds. Most painfully, there was the storm swirling inside the "High Knight" that was ripping him apart on the inside. Aeron gritted his teeth and tried to blot out the memories. _Don't get upset. Today's not the day. Worry over your miserable existence another time. Don't rain on anyone's parade._

There was nothing to blame on anyone else. Any and every other person or place affected by this was only a victim of his actions. He could only blame himself.

_No, stop. You're right of course, but you need to stop thinking this. Think of what could happen._

_Hide it. Bottle it up. Store it away._ Slowly and painfully, he compressed all his negative thoughts into a single point. _Conceal it. _He took in a deep breath, and forced himself to calm down, his features slackening into a casual expression with painful ease. He almost laughed at how pathetic he was. _Stop. Don't feel it. There's more time to mope miserably. Let it loose another time. I know you're ready to explode from the pressure, but you can't blow up right now. Right now, you have a job._

The wind slowly died down, and the greying clouds slowly drifted apart. The ocean returned to being a gentle mirror of the sky above. Aeron could see the sun poking up. He smiled bitterly. _See? Nothing wrong. Nothing to see here. _He flopped down onto his side with a groan. _How disgusting.  
_

He had enjoyed the company of Kristoff, Anna, Olaf, and Elsa in the past few days, but interacting with them had only reminded him how pitiful, how despicable a person he was. _You don't need to worry about me and Elsa, Aksel_, he thought. _That would never work out._ He couldn't believe he had allowed himself to think of wooing her. A demon like him couldn't dream of a future an angel like her.

Most people who had been gifted with life lived it. Aerín did. Aksel did. Anna did. Kristoff did. Olaf did. Elsa did. But Aeron? He was just here. Like a piece of driftwood eternally at sea, a dandelion seed floating eternally on the wind, a phantom who only imitated life. They all lived. He just went through the motions. He had nothing to truly live for, except to keep Aerín from blaming herself for a certain fate he'd considered for himself. But he was waiting for death, and it was waiting for him. And when it came, he knew that if any afterlife existed, there was only one place in it for him, if any.

A demon like him couldn't dream of a future. Period.

Aeron took that thought and tossed it into a dark corner of his soul where he couldn't and wouldn't bother to look for it for awhile. _Not the time for that, either. Say it with me now: Conceal, don't feel..._

When he finally heard someone shout his name, enough time had passed that he had watched the sky turn from gray to red to blue. He turned to see Elsa and Anna coming towards him, with Aerín, Aksel, and Kristoff in tow. "Okay, everyone's here now," Anna said, running over to him.

"I've been here awhile," Aeron replied, standing. "We ready to set sail?"

"Soon," Elsa replied. She glanced up at the sky. "Good weather for sailing today, I think."

Aeron followed her gaze. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. "Yeah. Good weather," he agreed. But he couldn't keep the heaviness out of his voice. Aerin's eyes flicked towards him in concern. "I'm fine. I'm just a little under the weather. Don't worry about it."

Aerín clearly didn't buy it, but to Aeron's relief his sister chose not to question it. "Remember to load up your glider. We can't leave that behind."

"Of course not." Aeron picked it up. And returned to going through the motions of life once again.

If there was anything he had left to compliment himself on, he would have said that he was a pretty good actor.

* * *

**Aaaaaaannnnnnd this marks the moment where I change the title of the story! Previously known as This Swirling Storm Inside, it is now known as The Seventh One. I'll let you interpret why that is :D**

**For the record, I hate transition scenes. **

**Read and review!**

**Aeron Solo wuz here**


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